See that redheaded guy over there?
If you are a ‘90s kid, you’ve probably seen this redheaded guy on TV. If you are a Gen Z, before your sister fangirled over the hotties in Kuroko’s Basketball, she and your aunties have probably already cheered over Rukawa in front of the TV.
If you still do not know him, he is Hanamichi Sakuragi, the delinquent-turned-basketball player from Shohoku High School. After being rejected by fifty girls in Junior High, he had lost all hope in love until Haruko Akagi, a basketball fangirl, approached him and asked him if he plays basketball. Lovestruck by Haruko’s sheer beauty, he immediately declared himself a genius basketball player and despite being a complete novice in the sport, he eventually joined the basketball team to impress her.
Haruko and Sakuragi’s first meeting.
Slam Dunk is all about Sakuragi’s basketball journey and how he slowly but surely fell in love with the sport. Armed with a colorful cast of characters, with many of them being delinquents (as is the trend at the time), Slam Dunk is a mix of comedy and sports action that has cemented itself in the history of anime and manga as one of the legends of all time. Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1990 to 1996, this series by Takehiko Inoue received widespread acclaim for its compelling storytelling, well-developed characters, and intense basketball action. Its anime adaptation also played a significant role in popularizing basketball in Japan and beyond. It also has a huge dedicated following across Asia.
The starter players of the Shohoku basketball team.
But despite its popularity, the anime never went past the Inter High Championships.
The anime series ended when they were about to go to the Inter-High, and we never saw the last two matches animated. Fans have lost all hope for an adaptation of the final match against Sannoh High—until more than two decades later when Inoue dropped a tweet about the movie out of the blue.
Movie Production
Inoue may have dropped the news about the Slam Dunk movie in 2021, but its production started a long time ago.
In 2003, Toshiyuki Matsui, a producer from Toei Animation, approached Takehiko Inoue's office with the idea of creating a "Slam Dunk" movie that would continue the story after the TV anime's conclusion. However, the initial offer was rejected at that time. Six years later, in 2009, Inoue's office approached Matsui with a proposal for the project. Matsui then formed a team to develop prototype videos showcasing the movie's visual look using a combination of 3DCG and 2D animation. After several iterations, they finally arrived at a version that satisfied Inoue's vision, blending both animation styles to create a realistic portrayal of the basketball court and characters.
In January 2015, Inoue accepted the role of scriptwriter and director for the film, while the work on motion capture and character models commenced in 2018. The movie's production remained relatively low-profile until January 2021 when Inoue suddenly announced its production on Twitter.
THE FIRST SLAM DUNK Official Trailer
A Fresh Perspective
Inoue aimed to present a fresh perspective on the story, focusing on the theme of overcoming pain rather than solely on the protagonist's potential. He wanted both existing fans and newcomers to experience the movie as if seeing it for the first time, so that even people who haven’t read the manga nor watched the real movie can follow easily. To achieve this, he carefully retouched scenes in 3D and 2D and drew multiple storyboards for the film. Inoue chose not to bring back the TV anime's voice actors to avoid them having to abandon their long-established portrayals of the characters, and instead, he focused on selecting new voice actors based on the quality of their natural voices.
Ryota Miyagi is the film’s protagonist, replacing Sakuragi in the spotlight.
Due to time constraints, a lot of material from the manga has been skipped and changed. The movie mostly focused on the match against Sannoh, and Toyotama, the team that Shohoku played before Sannoh, wasn’t even given a second in the limelight.
Sannoh High, as seen in the movie.
And to achieve that new perspective, Inoue chose to make Ryota Miyagi the protagonist instead of Sakuragi. Sakuragi not being the protagonist anymore comes with a cost—unlike the manga and the previous anime, the comedy in the film is almost non-existent, and the cute super-deformed art styles that Slam Dunk has regularly used in its comedic scenes did not appear even once. There were supposedly funny scenes in the movie, but its execution almost fell flat and wasn’t as funny as the original anime.
Because Inoue wanted to focus on “overcoming pain”, Miyagi’s backstory, which hasn’t been fleshed out in the manga, was given attention in the film. His story is much more dramatic and serious as compared to any other characters in the series, so Inoue’s decision to make the comedy less prominent is probably a good one in this case. Still, the insane comedy is one of the trademarks of Slam Dunk and one of the reasons why it is so loved, so not having Sakuragi’s shenanigans on the court highlighted kinda sucks if you are a long-time fan.
Scenes like this weren’t present in the movie, which is a shame since Slam Dunk’s humor is timeless.
While having Miyagi as the protagonist makes things new, there is a bit of conflict in the game itself because he wasn’t given much focus in the Sannoh match as compared to Sakuragi or even Rukawa. In fact, due to his lack of backstory, he oftentimes gets overshadowed by Mitsui when it comes to emotional moments. Inoue’s decision to flesh out Miyagi’s backstory which has only been hinted at in the spin-off one-shot, Piercing, is a good take, although it also cost us a lot of moments from the match that can only be added if Sakuragi is still the protagonist, such as the final moments in the match.
Sakuragi’s decision to give his all despite the risk of injuring himself and thus possibly ending his basketball career has a lesser impact in the movie since his thoughts, unlike the manga, weren’t revealed that much. The iconic almost confession scene to Haruko wasn’t even included, and it was one of the most awaited moments of the series since this is where everything went full circle and we see Sakuragi admit to everyone that he has, indeed, fallen in love with basketball. The ending with Sakuragi in therapy seeing a Japanese representative Rukawa running on the beach wasn’t even animated, and instead, we get to see Miyagi on the beach, reconciling with his mother right after the match.
Sakuragi’s (almost) confession scene in the manga. It was not included in the movie.
Still, despite the obvious cuts due to time constraints and narrative changes, The First Slam Dunk is a solid movie. As compared to the previous anime, the film feels like you are in a real match. The 3DCG makes the movements much more smoother and realistic, and despite earlier grievances and doubts about its usage of CGI, it is of high quality and arguably even the best in anime today. It looks much darker as compared to the colorful palette they have used in the previous series, and while some parts look weird due to the use of CGI, it is still decent. The 2D animated parts still looked a bit CGI-like though, so if you have a preference for 2D animation, it might feel weird to you.
The first ten minutes of the match might feel confusing, and it felt too realistic to the point that no character was given much focus and it was just a fast-paced basketball game. It quickly picks up in the second quarter of the match, as the pacing becomes more like usual and the characters were given the time to shine. On the other hand, the last ten minutes of the match is a masterpiece. Sure, they might have removed Sakuragi’s “I love basketball” scene but the moments leading to the final scene where Sakuragi and Rukawa had their first and only high five is beautiful. The music, the suspense, the pacing—everything in that moment was perfect, and if you have been waiting for this scene for a long time, you will be deeply satisfied.
Fans of the manga have been waiting for decades to see this scene animated, and the film has done it splendidly.
The music used in the movie is great, and the voice actors for the Shohoku team sounded similar to the original anime cast, except for Rukawa and Sakuragi. It might just be my huge bias for the original cast, but the way Rukawa and Sakuragi sounded is just way too different. Takeshi Kusao’s portrayal of Sakuragi in the original anime is too iconic, and the comedic parts with Sakuragi in the movie kinda felt lacking. It’s hard to put it into words, but when Sakuragi acts stupid in the movie, he sounds… less idiotic than he is supposed to be. The new voice actors’ work isn’t bad, per se–it’s just kinda hard to get used to, especially if you’re used to the original iconic voices in the previous anime.
The last scene before the ending credits where it showed Sannoh’s ace, Eiji Sawakita, and Miyagi overseas as a college basketball player kinda felt unnecessary, since the entirety of Sannoh wasn’t fleshed out enough and Miyagi didn’t even have that much of a history with the guy to make them meet in America. To be honest, it kinda reminded me a bit of Haikyuu’s ending in the manga, though the latter was much more satisfying since the characters that met in the professional leagues had a history as compared to Miyagi and Eiji.
Reception and International Success
As of July 2023, "The First Slam Dunk" grossed $263 million worldwide, becoming the fifth highest-grossing anime film of all time. In Japan, it earned over ¥14.84 billion ($106.4 million) and debuted at number one, holding its top position for three consecutive weekends. It topped the charts across Asia, and the film is still being shown worldwide. It also received prestigious awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
Indeed, if you are a Slam Dunk fan, you will definitely enjoy The First Slam Dunk. Even if you haven’t seen the series before, you would still get hooked as the film focused on a single match. The film is not a complete adaptation of the Inter High Championships nor the Sannoh match, so if you want to have the full experience, make sure to read the manga so you can see how Sakuragi’s journey with basketball ended.
What do you think?
Why did Miyagi become the protagonist of the movie?
Will Sakuragi ever recover from his injury?
What is Slam Dunk’s impact on the anime and manga industry?
Let us know in the comments or drop us a line on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)! We’d love to hear from you!
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About The Writer
Cristy is a freelance artist and writer who has been obsessed with anime and manga since childhood. Her love for these imaginative worlds fuels her creative endeavors, and she shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
